Editorial: Smitherman earns Railroad Commission post

As Texans start early voting Monday for the July 31 runoff, one key statewide race remains to be decided by Lone Star State Republicans.

Barry Smitherman is running for election to the three-member Texas Railroad Commission. He’s earned the nod.

Smitherman was appointed to the panel in June 2011 by Gov. Rick Perry. If he wins election this year, he’ll stand for re-election in 2014 for a full six-year term.

Smitherman’s runoff opponent is Gary Parker of Comal County. Parker finished second in the May 29 primary.

Smitherman is an outstanding public servant. He served as chairman of the Public Utility Commission, which regulates utilities in Texas. Indeed, the Railroad Commission’s duties deal exclusively with oil and natural gas regulation, which is right up Smitherman’s alley.

As the current chairman of the Railroad Commission, Smitherman is hitting all the right notes on the duties of the agency. He speaks to the need to develop technology in Texas to develop more homegrown energy sources while weaning the state and the nation of its dependence on foreign sources; he speaks to the issue of Texans’ property rights to avoid what he considers to be encroachment by federal authorities; he is a proponent of maximum transparency at the Railroad Commission, vowing to continue posting the agency’s check register online to give Texans full access to how the commission spends public money.

Yes, there’s another Railroad Commission race on the ballot this year. It involves state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, and Christi Craddick of Austin, who are competing in the second GOP runoff for the commission. But that race will be decided in the fall when the GOP winner faces Democrat Dale Henry.

The winner of the Smitherman-Parker contest, though, faces only token opposition from a Libertarian candidate, Jaime Perez. And in a state that is ostensibly still just a two-party state, this contest deserves attention.